Faith and Hope
by Tallow4
Summary: Faith-centric story. set 7 years post chosen, however focus on flashbacks that are pre-Faiths arrival in Sunnydale. looking into Faith's past. Very dark.
1. Arrival

Set 7 years post Chosen. Slayer school is set up, where all new slayers spend at least a month there. Then can choose to stay at Sunnydale High, named after the location of the original hellmouth, or go back to their old lives, so long as they check in regularly with local slayer patrols led by the original potentials met in season 7. Anya and Tara have both been resurrected. Wiccans and the new watchers also work and study at slayer school. Giles preserved the councils contacts and influences. Dawn and Xander are also both head watchers, although Dawn is currently in med school, still hangs around Sunnydale High all the itme.

Chapter 1:

"What's up, Faith?" Buffy chided between punches as the two original slayers circled in the training room, "You seem a little off today."

"Just one of those days, you know, B"

"Yeah, I know just what you mean"

The two slayers continued to spar, trading punches until it became a full on wrestling match. Just as Buffy had Faith pinned, the door to the training room opened.

"Hope I'm not interrupting" Willow said from the doorway.

"Oh, not at all, Will" Buffy replied, suddenly hastening to climb off of Faith. "Whats up?"

"New slayer just arrived. You guys usually like to give the tour."

"On our way."

The three quickly left for the entrance hall to meet the newbie. There hadn't been too many more. They thought they had pretty much found all the slayers Willow had awakened. No more were being called. Not for the mean-time anyways.

"Where did this one come in from?" Faith asked seemingly casually.

"Boston area, I think" Willow replied. At this response Faith stiffened completely. Not that either Willow or Buffy noticed. "She looks around 13, although I haven't asked yet."

"She have a name?" Faith was struggling to still seem casual. The strain in her voice brought Buffy's attention to how stiff the other slayer suddenly was.

They had reached the entrance hall, where a tall skinny young teenage girl with wavy brown hair and big dark eyes was standing awkwardly, hands in pockets, looking around the room.

"Hope, Hope Mason." Willow replied, both to Faith and in greeting the girl.

Now Faith was truly frozen to the spot staring at the young girl in the middle of the room, a look of panic on her face; although that only lasted an instant. Then she ran. Bolted from the room in a way that baffled and confused both Willow and Buffy, who stared after her.


	2. wait, what?

Chapter 2

Buffy and Willow stared at each other, looking back and forth between the door Faith just bolted out of, each other, and the girl standing in the middle of the room. It took them a moment to regain their composure and address the girl, who was now thoroughly shocked as well as being nervous and slightly confused.

"What did I do?" Hope asked, still staring out the door Faith had disappeared down.

"N-nothing. Don't worry about it" Buffy said, still regaining her composure, although still glancing back over her shoulder every now and then. "So, Faith and I, we're the two original slayers, until this woman" points to Willow "did some magic so that we would have enough slayers to stop the apocalypse that almost happened about 7 years back. That's when you would have been called."

"I wasn't called. I've always been a slayer"

"I know it may seem that way because your young, but-" Willow started, trying to help the girl understand.

"NO. Your not listening. I have been a slayer my whole life. Nothing changed for me seven years ago. I've been slaying vampires since I was 5."

Buffy and Willow exchanged shocked looks.

"You don't need to make up stories to impress us. Every slayer was called at some point. I was around your age when it happened to me." Buffy said, trying to make the girl feel more at ease. She was lying, it was the only explanation.

"No. I'm not lying. I'm not making up stories. She's a witch, right? She can tell you!"

"She isn't lying, Buffy." Willow said, sounding slightly uncertain, but confident of two things: 1. Her truth spell told her the girl wasn't lying, which only proved that the girl honestly believed what she was saying. 2. The connection she felt to all the other slayers due to her spell calling them was missing from this girl. So Willow had not been the one to call her. Which means that her story must be true.

"then, how?" Buffy turned, very confused, to Willow.

"I don't know Buffy. I really don't know."

The moment dragged on in a slightly awkward silence. Then the other girl in the room stepped away from the wall.

"Well, if everything is settled here, I'll take Hope on the rest of the tour. You should probably go try to catch up with Faith. She's probably half way to Sunnydale by now." Kennedy said, placing a hand on Hope's shoulder and gently guiding her away down a different hallway, avoiding making eye contact with Willow. With that the two disappeared down the hallway. Normally initial meetings with new slayers were slightly more formal. Buffy and Faith would often give the tour themselves, providing time to share which ever stories they most felt like sharing with the slayer at the time. This time though, Buffy had other worries. Kennedy was right, she had to go after Faith.


	3. confessions

Kennedy was partially right anyways. Buffy did need to go after Faith, but she hadn't made it past the nearest vamp nest. And it was a good thing Buffy went after her when she did. She was barely in time to save Faith. She had gone for the nearest biggest fight there was, and when it's 30 to 1, it's a dangerous battle for any slayer, even one as strong and practiced as Faith. Those Willow had called were not quite as strong as Buffy and Faith, although the biggest difference in their fighting was the difference in experience levels. Still, Buffy was barley in time to save Faith. In the end, they were all dust, but Faith had taken a major beating, even been bitten, and was unconscious when the fight ended.

Buffy's heart was pounding as she turned Faith over, felt for a pulse, for breath. So she was alive. But for how long? It took Buffy a moment to calm herself, work past the panic attack so she could scoop up her fellow slayer and take off at a run to the nearest hospital, which was luckily only a couple blocks away.

She lay Faith gently on the nearest gurney, calling for help the whole time. When the doctors came over they were at first trying to tend to Buffy. They thought she was calling for help for herself, an assumption helped by the fact that she had a large gash down her cheek that was still dripping blood. But Buffy had barely noticed and wouldn't let them start to clean her face until she was sure Faith was being taken care of.

Once Buffy allowed them to give her stitches, she was immediately released. By the time she found Faith's room, she was just starting to wake up.

"Hope" she rasped, eyes beginning to flutter. It was barely discernable as a word. It mostly sounded like a wheeze, which is why Buffy told herself she must be crazy. That Faith didn't whisper the new slayers name. It just didn't make any sense!

"Faith, your awake!" Buffy cried, standing up and moving to the other slayer's bedside.

"Buffy. What – what happened?"

"You went looking for a fight. And found more of one than any single slayer could handle. I got there just in time to save your ass. Although your still in some pretty bad shape. You broke a leg, an arm, 3 ribs and a toe."

"So that's why it feels like I got run over by a semi"

"Oh, you also got bitten. He didn't get to drink more than a drop though. They didn't even notice you were anemic. You nearly got yourself killed, Faith. If I had been a minute later…"

"You weren't. And I'm going to be fine, right? What did they say was the healing time frame for all my bones? A month? That means I'll be good as knew in a week, tops." Suddenly, this news didn't seem as good to Faith. Getting out of the hospital meant going back to Sunnydale High, and it meant facing Hope. "You know, B, I think its time I do some travel. Check on some of the way stations. Head out for a month, at least."

Buffy's mind went back to what she thought she heard Faith say as she awoke. To what had caused Faith to take off and go looking for a fight like this. "Faith, what is it about this new slayer that is making you run? I mean, so there's been a third slayer, freaky, yes, but you took off before you even heard that. What do you know about her that you're not telling us?"

"Nothing, Buffy. I don't know anything about her."

"Faith, the sight of her, hearing her name; I haven't seen you take off from anywhere like that, that look of fear on your face, since Kakistos showed up at your motel room."

"Buffy, just let it go"

"Faith, don't go back to that place. Don't loose how far you've come. Don't become the dark slayer again. What is so different now? What don't I know?"

"there's a lot you don't know, Buffy. You don't know anything about me"

"I know you pretty well, Faith"

"Fine Buffy, what do you know about before I came to Sunnydale?" Buffy opened her mouth to begin to speak, but Faith didn't let her. "What do you know that cannot be summed up in 2 sentences, about my mother being a violent drunk and my grandmother dying when I was little."

Buffy was speechless. She had never noticed how little she knew about Faith's past.

"Just let it go, B"

"NO. Faith, you're scaring me. And right now, your not going anywhere, not on that leg and that foot. So I'm going to sit here for the next week straight if that's what it takes."

"Fine, Buffy, you want to know what's different about her? You want to know why Willow's spell wasn't required to make her chosen? Why the sight of her, seeing her there, made me turn and run in the opposite direction?"

"Yes"

"Buffy…"

"Faith, I'm not judging"

"You will"

"Faith! Just tell me"

"Buffy, Hope is…" Faith trailed off, she couldn't say it, but she had to. Buffy was right, she was moving back to the bad place, the murderous place.

"Hope is my daughter"


	4. shock and dissapointment

Buffy stood stuttering, mouth agape, staring at Faith, flapping her jaw up and down trying to get to words. Faith just stared down at her legs.

After a long moment, Buffy finally managed to put together a sentence. "She's like, 16, Faith! How could she possibly be your-" Buffy cut herself off. She couldn't bring herself to say daughter, its what had caused most of the stammering.

"She's 14"

"But your only"

"28, yeah."

"So you were"

"14, yep"

"But-"

"Just drop it, Buffy. Please" Faith finally looked up at the other slayer, a nearly begging look in her eyes. "Please just drop it"

The two slayers sat in silence for a while after that, Faith never looking up from a spot on the floor in the opposite direction of Buffy. Buffy mostly stared at the floor too, with frequent quick glances at Faith.

This long, awkward moment dragged onward for nearly an hour, until Buffy's phone started to ring. "Will, everything is fine. Don't worry about it." "Faith's hurt, we're at the hospital, she's going to be fine." "Ok, I'll be back in an hour or so" Buffy hung up the phone.

"They need you back at slayer central?"

"I'll be back in a couple hours. Don't think your off the hook"

* * *

They didn't really need much back at slayer central, but Buffy still had to go check in, give the situation update to the other slayers. As she walked in, she walked past Hope, and couldn't help but stare. How could she be Faith's daughter? But at the same time, there were similarities. Hope looked almost like a miniature Faith in a lot of ways, although the expression, Faith never looked that at peace.

"what?" Hope asked, breaking Buffy from her trance.

"what? Oh, nothing. Nothing." Buffy broke her stare from the girl and kept walking. She had to fill in Willow about the fight yesterday.

"Why were you staring at me?" Hope called from behind her. Buffy stopped and turned. Even the voice, she even sounded a bit like Faith.

"Nothing, Hope. Just get on to class. You don't want to miss your first day."

Buffy walked away.

"Whats on your mind, Buff?" Willow asked when she arrived.

"What?"

"You look very deep in thought about something. Fights, even close calls like it sounds like last night was, don't usually make you this thoughtful"

"Forget about it, Will. I just came to check in, make sure everything is running smoothly. I don't want to leave Faith alone for too long."

"Is it that bad?"

"It nearly was. One vamp was just sinking his teeth into her. She's also got a few broken ribs, a broken leg and a broken arm. Oh, and she broke a toe. But she's a slayer, give it a week and she'll be fine. But where did that huge nest even come from? How did we not spot it! There were 30 vamps camped out only a couple of blocks from here!"

"I don't know, Buffy. But the research team is right on it. And we're sending out 2 extra patrols tonight, 2 extra slayers to a patrol. Whatever it is, we'll get it taken care of."

"Good. I have to go, I promised Faith I would be back…"

"Yeah, go sit by her bedside" Willow taunted with a smirk, much like the time just before Sunnydale had fallen, when Buffy had taunted Willow about bringing tea to a "sick" Kennedy.

"Don't say it like that, Will. It's nothing like that." Disappointment rang softly in Buffy's voice.


	5. more to a slayer

On her way back out, Buffy ran into Hope again.

"Hope, we're going on a training mission."

"What? Its daylight! What is there to fight in broad daylight?"

"You'd be surprised."

"I don't need training. I told you, I've been a slayer my whole life."

"There's a lot more to being a slayer than the instinct, than the strength. You may have mastered every weapon and fighting style there is. You might know plenty of demonology, but there is more to being a slayer than all of that. There is still a lot for you to learn, a lot that we can teach you." Buffy started walking quickly towards the door, and Hope ran to follow.

"I'm not sure that everyone feels that way"

"What are you talking about?"

"I hadn't been here 2 minutes when I sent Faith running."

"Don't worry about that. You just startled her, that's all."

"How did I startle her?"

"Hope, I know you have a lot of questions, but right now, focus. We're here. Now tell me, what do you see?"

"Lots of dust. Must have been a major party you 2 interrupted last night."

"There were at least 30, maybe more."

"Whats with all the creepy dolls?"

"Uh-oh. Hope, whatever you do, don't look into her eyes."

"Whose eyes?"

"Why did you come here, Drusilla?" Buffy addressed the vampiress who had just peeled herself out of the corner of the room.

"Buffy, you just steal all my best toys. Daddy, Spike. And you have brought my death. Why are you so mean?" Drusilla looked at Hope as she spoke of death.

"You will not touch her, Drusilla" Buffy stepped protectively between Hope and the vampire.

"Why are you being so mean? You're supposed to be nice to the cursed! The damned, as I am!"

"Cursed? But, how?"

"The mean watcher cursed me"

"watcher?"

"Yes. The mean watcher did this"

"If you're cursed, than why was there a vamp party here last night?"

"We were all cursed. You slayed us. Now I'm all alone. You take all my boys"

"What does she mean cursed? What are you guys talking about?" Hope yelled, refusing to be ignored anymore.

"She's been cursed with her mortal soul. But you haven't stopped feeding" Buffy finished, spotting the pile of bodies in the corner. She moved forward, to engage Drusilla in a fight. However Drusilla does not fight fair. She immediately starts to hypnotize Buffy, the same way she played with Kendra before killing her. She was about to finish Buffy the same way as she had finished Kendra before her, but suddenly she crumpled to dust.

"Thanks, Hope" Buffy looked at her through the crumpling Drusilla, as she had once looked at Faith through another dusting vamp. The similarities between the two had never seemed as strong as right now.

"So Drusilla isn't like other vamps, is she?"

"No, she wasn't. She was crazy. But I need to go tell Willow what is happening, what we found out. Will you go fill Faith in. She'll know who Drusilla is. But make sure to mention the part about a watcher cursing them. She should know, maybe she'll know something about what's happening. I'll catch up with you as soon as I fill Willow in."

They left the crypt and parted ways, Hope heading towards the hospital, and Buffy back to Sunnydale High.

* * *

*So, I know i majorly messed up Drusilla's voice, but I tried right. and its hard to write that kinda crazy psycho babble.


	6. story time

Hope walked into the hospital, and found Faith's room. Faith was just waking up as she came in.

"Well, you did say you were coming back, B…"

"Faith?" Hope asked, having barely caught a glimpse of the slayer upon what she thought was their first meeting, she still wasn't sure she had the right room.

"Hope, what are you doing here?!" Faith was instantly wide awake. "Just go home!"

This sudden outburst startled the young slayer. She was frozen in place only for a moment. "Why do you hate me?" she finally managed to ask the older slayer.

"Hate you? Hope, I could never"

"Then why do you keep running away from me? I hadn't been there 2 minutes when you first took off. And now you're trying to get rid of me again! What am I supposed to think?"

"I never thought I would see you again." Faith half whispered, but Hope had slayer hearing too.

"again? As in we've met before?"

"Hope, what do you know about your birth mother?"

"birth mother?"

"THEY NEVER EVEN TOLD YOU YOU'RE ADOPTED?!" Faith was exploding. Her daughter didn't even know she was adopted.

"what?" Hope knew she would explode soon too, the anger at being lied to all these years, but right now she was too confused. She was adopted? And how did Faith know?

"Hope, come here, sit down."

"Why?"

"There's a lot you should know. Sit down. I've got a lot to tell you."

* * *

As Buffy approached Sunnydale, she called for a full Scooby meeting. When she arrived, the whole gang was sitting and waiting for her. Willow, Tara, Xander, Anya, Dawn, and a few younger slayers.

"I went back to check out last nights party scene." Buffy announced as she walked in, laying the scythe onto the table.

"You all right? Anyone still hanging around?" Xander asked, she did look a little dusty. And she was injured from last night.

"Only one, an old friend"

"Who was it, Buffy?" Tara asked.

"Drusilla"

"Drusilla's in town?" Willow seemed a little scared, she remembered what Drusilla was like from all those years before.

"Don't worry, Will. She's dust now."

"You killed her?" Vi seemed excited. She did love a good kill.

"Hope did. But not before she told me some interesting news."

"You brought Hope with you?" Tara questioned.

"Whats the news?" Anya just wanted to know the scoop. She and Xander were supposed to have today off!

"She said the mean watcher had cursed her"

"watcher? Cursed? Like Angel cursed?" these questions floated around the room, coming from every direction.

"She said they all had been, the whole mob Faith and I took on last night. I couldn't get much more out of her. She was starting with the hypnotizing, and Hope had to stake her before she cut my throat."

"So, someone is giving vampires souls."

"And they're calling themselves a watcher"

"I think this means research time. I really need to split though. I sent Hope to the hospital to fill in Faith, and I'm a little worried about how that's going. I'll catch up with you guys later. Get on that research though." And with that Buffy left, leaving the group to mull over the new information, trying to figure out how to even go about entering research mode on this.

* * *

please review! things are about to get going, i know i said this was goign ot be a Faith flashback story, but the whole story is about to come out in hte next few chapters.


	7. a private moment

As Buffy left, she thought back on the end of her argument with Faith.

"how much do you know about my life?"

Buffy had opened her mouth to protest that she knew quite a bit, but Faith didn't let her start.

"before I came to sunnydale"

Buffy opened her mouth again, but once more faith cut her off.

"that can't be wrapped up in 2 sentences about my drunk mother beating on me and my gran dying when I was 4."

This time Buffy was speachless. How could she know so little about her slayer-sisters life before they met?

"so tell me." she finally said, defiance dripping from her set tone.

Faith lay still and silent. She didn't want to tell her story. Not like this. She kept her mouth set shut, she would let this silence sit until

Buffy pushed it. Made her start to talk. And the silence lasted a long time, heavy with what Faith was going to have to tell. But before Buffy forced Faith to tell her story, she was called away. Buffy was left thinking on how she had never pushed Faith for more about her childhood. Faith knew everything about her. How could there be so much she didn't know? A daughter Faith had never told her she had.

* * *

At Faith's prodding, Hope pulled the chair Buffy had vacated that morning closer to the bed.  
"a slayer's story begins long before they're called. You might have already gotten rumblings about me as the rougue slayer, the dark slayer. And for a while I was. But that is long past where we need to start." Faith looked up, away from Hope. She wished so badly that she didn't have to tell her all of this. But she knew she did. She noticed Buffy now standing in the doorway, taking in the sight. She gave her one small nod. Inviting her in to hear the tale as well. Buffy had a right to know. And Faith knew she would only be able to tell this story once, and only once. She had never told anyone before, and knew she never would again.

Buffy looked in, shocked to see Hope pulling the chair closer to Faith's side. Faith hadn't just kicked her out, yelled at her to leave? Faith was actually talking to her daughter? Buffy heard Faith prefacing her story. She so badly wanted to walk in and listen, but she was afraid it would scare Faith. Ruin her moment with her daughter. But for an instant Faith looked up, locking eyes with Buffy for an instant and nodding, before turning her focus back to her daughter. That was enough of an invitation for Buffy. She knew she wasn't going to get anything more. So she walked in and sat in the other chair in the room, on the opposite side of the bed from where Hope now sat, near Faith's feet. She was still just an observer, an eavesdropper on Faith's moment with her daughter. Their reunion. Her time with Faith had been wasted in silence. Now she would get to hear what didn't get to be said before. But she was just eavesdropping, but she didn't mind. Seeing Faith with her daughter like that, it was such a personal moment, something pure and beautiful, and Buffy felt lucky just to be able to watch. Her heart felt lighter, watching the scene. So she sat, and listened.


	8. Faith's story

"It all starts with this: My grandmother was the first person to ever love me, the only person to ever love me. She protected me for as long as she could, and eventually it killed her. I was only 4 at the time. You see, my mother was a drunk, and a violent one at that. But she wasn't the worst either. I learned quickly how to avoid the flying bottles, the shards they exploded into. How to just leave and wait for her to pass out. I learned all that very quickly after my grandmother died. No, my mother wasn't the worst. It was her choice in men. Most of them were drunks, just like her. But they wouldn't pass out as quickly. And when my mama would finally pass out, they weren't satisfied yet. So they would come to my room. Lay with me for a while. The first time it happened I tried to tell my mama. That was a mistake. One of the only times she ever threw a full bottle at me. She would always make sure to finish them first. And then she beat on me some more, because I had made her waste all her precious vodka. Every time she brought a new guy home, and he would come into my room, I told myself that the next day when I left, I wasn't coming back. But I always did. I hated myself, because I couldn't make myself leave. I kept going back. This lasted til I was 12.

You know what finally got me out of that house? That day I noticed I started bleeding. I thought he had finally managed to break me. And I ran. I finally ran. Getting my period for the first time, that's what finally got me out. And then I was 12, alone, without anywhere to stay or a dime to my name. I slept on the street. The dumpster diving was old news for me. My mama was always good at going and getting alcohol, but she almost never brought home any food. So that much I was used to.

A few weeks later I met them. A whole gang of kids, a few years older than me, all living on the streets, all on their own. So I joined them. And then Billy picked me out. He was as close to a gang leader as we had. And he wanted me, told me he loved me. And I believed him. He was the first man I let in. But then things started to change. I was sick, nauseous, throwing up. They made me separate myself saying I was too much of a risk, that they didn't want everyone to get sick. They still brought me back food, I just had my own room, closet really, now in that abandoned building we lived in. But more things started to change. I was starting to get fat. One of the other girls in the group finally put it together. She had had much younger siblings before she took off. She had seen her mom go through the changes I was going through. Man, was I confused when she started telling me there was a baby in my belly. I hadn't even known what my period was, let alone understand pregnancy. It didn't matter. I was scared. And I told Billy. And he just kicked me out. Told me not to come back. And despite Sarah trying to argue with him, you didn't go against Billy. She took a major beating for standing up for me. And I was still left out on the street. Scared, pregnant, confused, alone and about to turn 14. It was the last time I tried going home. But my mama, she was so drunk it never occurred to her that I had been gone 2 years that time, rather than a day. And she was yelling and cursing and throwing stuff again. I ran right back out the door.

I was sleeping on the curb, digging through dumpsters to eat. After a couple weeks, a woman stopped to talk to me. She tried to offer me some money, but I refused to become on of the beggars, I had enough pride to refuse to take her money. So she just sat and talked to me. We started by talking about her accent. To me she just talked funny. She explained its how they talk where she's from, back in England. Mary came back every day. She started bringing me food because I was too hungry to refuse, no matter my pride. She talked to me about the baby growing inside me. Tried to help me understand what pregnancy meant. At the beginning I tried changing curbs to avoid her. But she always found me. Eventually I stopped seeing it as such a bad thing. She offered to let me stay with her a few times too. But my pride refused. So she just brought me blankets. Then came the day that changed everything."

"The day you were called?" Hope asked.

"Well, yes. But that's not the only reason everything changed that day. The night before, I had started having stomach pain. I had gone into labor, not that I knew. When she came back in the morning, she realized fairly quickly what was happening. She was able to convince me to go to the hospital, but not without a fight. It took an extremely strong contraction to convince me. 10 hours later, I was cursing, screaming and crying. Mary was still there with me. An hour later I was holding my baby girl, and so much felt different. It wasn't just seeing my baby, being a mom that was different. In that last hour, delivering my little girl, I had been called.

As you might have guessed, Mary turned out to be my watcher. For a little over a month, I was learning to be a slayer, and a mother. But Mary kept pushing for me to think about adoption. Things changed again the first time I nearly lost, the first time a vamp nearly had me. The first vamp that nearly beat me was Kakistos. He got away, but now he was after me. She was finally able to convince me to give up my little girl. She had the adoption all set up. She took her to her new family the next day. That night I patrolled again, I didn't know that Kakistos was coming back for me. He said he would, that tiny threat had made me send my little girl away. The first person I had ever loved. When I got home from patrolling just before dawn, Mary wasn't in, which worried me a little. But she showed up very shortly after, groceries in hand. 'There you are, I was worried. You got dinner?' 'yep' 'Bring it over then!'

That was all the invitation she needed. She sat and watched while I ate. 'Aren't you going to eat something, Mary?' 'Oh yes.' That's when her face changed. They didn't just kill her. They made her. And then I had to kill her. In the end, she was dust, but I was ruined. She had cared for me, like I hadn't been cared for since my grandmother had died. And I had to drive a stake through her heart. Kakistos came back again. That's when I started running. Until I got to Sunnydale.

So there it is, my sad tale," Faith finished. Throughout the whole story she had looked almost exclusively at Hope, staring off into the distance during some of the more horrible parts of the story, unable to face her daughter as she spoke of them. She wished that her daughter had never had to hear so much of that. But it was important.

"Have you ever seen her again? Your daughter?" Hope asked

"I didn't see her for 14 years."

"What was her name?"

"Hope. Her name is Hope."

Now Hope was silent, wide eyed, frozen with shock.

And then she was on her feet, yelling. "Why didn't you ever come to me before now? Why didn't you ever find me?"

"I thought I was doing what was right for you. I thought you were better off not knowing me. A slayer lives death. I've come so close so many times. I was afraid that if I found you, you would lose me, as I lost everyone that I ever cared about." A few tears were beginning to run down Faith's face. This was her daughters reaction to her? She opened up to her like she never has before, and she gets yelled at? Buffy noticed this, and placed her hand over Faith's. She wasn't Hope, but it was some compassion.

"You should have come to find me." Hope started so slow her pacing.

"I'm sorry"

Slowly, Hope moved back to her mother's bedside, sitting on the edge of the bed and hugging her mother, crying into her shoulder. And Faith was hugging her back, crying into her daughters. And Buffy just watched, tears running down her own face.


	9. back to Boston

Hope hung up the phone and threw it across the room, shattering it against the wall. She had been getting to know Faith, and it had been great. But for a second she had forgotten her home. And then she heard her mom's voice on the other side. Something his happening in Boston, and now her father is dead. Because she wasn't there to protect them. She should have protected them. Her anger was exploding. She started to throw her things in her duffle bag, packing very rapidly before jumping out the window of her room and running for the nearest bus stop.

* * *

"Have you seen Hope?" Faith asked, a slight panic entering her voice. "I haven't seen her since sparring this morning and her room looks like the worlds most incompetent burglars went through it. We were supposed to meet up for dinner."

"What's with all the special attention to this one? What makes her different than the other junior slayers?" Anya asked, always the one to ask the uncomfortable questions, even though all the scoobies had been wondering the same thing. Over the two weeks since she got here Faith has been paying extra attention to this slayer, first in an attempt to avoid her and since her night in the hospital, they had been hanging out a lot. All the scoobies were confused.

"Does it matter? Just help me find her!" Faith said after an awkward pause. She wasn't ready to tell everyone. They would have too many questions and she wouldn't find Hope.

"You can tell us, Faith" Willow replied, just trying to be supportive.

"If I tell you will you help me find her?" Faith asked, caving a little. She was never going to find her on her own, she'd already done a sweep of slayer central and the block around it, and Buffy was doing a wider sweep of the cemeteries.

All the scoobies nodded, and Faith sighed. "Hope is… well, she's my daughter."

Suddenly the Scoobies were all at attention, and there were a few gasps around the room.

"But by daughter, you mean in the so close you're basically family sense, right? You couldn't have been more than 15!" Xander said, insensitive as always.

"14. Long story. Just help me find her!" Faith screamed, shaking and collapsing into a chair, her head shaking no into her palm.

"Will, you and I can try a locater spell. Xander, why don't you go see if any of the juniors know anything? Anya, go with him." Tara said, always the most sensitive, kicking out the least so before they could say anything stupider or more offensive.

"Yeah, right, I'm just gonna go grab the maps and crystals and stuff. But Faith, we're going to need something of hers…" Willow says, snapping out of it.

"Here" Faith says, pulling a bracelet she had given Hope two days earlier out of her pocket. She had found it on Hope's bed, the knot that had held it on her wrist ripped apart.

"That will work." Tara said, before Willow hurried out of the room to get the other supplies, dragging Xander and Anya with her.

Willow returned shortly with the crystals, and Buffy came in soon after. Faith looked hopefully at her, but Buffy shook her head. "No luck on the Hope front. But I did get some interesting news. Came across a few groups of our ensouled vampire friends, still opting for suicide by way of slayer, but more than one group was talking about places." Buffy rattled off a bunch of places they were talking about, Newberry Street, the Cape, P-Town.

"That's all right around Boston." Faith said, just above a whisper. She didn't want to go back to Boston.

"No luck with the locator spell. She's not in Cleveland anymore." Tara said, giving Faith an apologetic look.

"Try a bigger area then!" Faith screamed, standing up so quickly that the chair she had been sitting in went flying, and the table nearly cracked under her fist.

"Right, right" Willow said, hurrying to switch for a world map and starting to swing the crystal over it, holding Tara's hand for extra power. Soon the crystal dropped.

"She's in Boston." Willow said, looking Faith in the eye. This time Faith did break the table. And she didn't stop there. Next there was a hole in the wall. There would have been several more but Buffy's slayer reflexes kicked in, and she took the punches instead, waiting for Faith to collapse, and stood there just holding her.

"Will, wanna see when the next flight to Boston is?" Buffy suggested while holding Faith up, snapping everyone out of their stunned, open-mouthed watching of Faith's meltdown.

"How many juniors do you want to bring with you?" Willow asked after a few silent minutes.

"No juniors. I'm going alone." Faith said firmly, shoving away from Buffy slightly and wiping the last tears off her face.

"No your not, Faith." Faith glared at Buffy, everyone else's eyes going back and forth between the two slayers. She didn't want to be going back to Boston, but if she was going to have to she would rather go alone, and if Hope had gone back, she had to. "No juniors, that's fine, but I'm coming with you. There's more to do in Boston than just getting Hope. It seems like that's where all these new ensouled vampires are coming from." Faith continued to glare, although it started to break. Buffy coming might even help, she had helped to bring them together in the first place, the one who had forced Faith to talk to her daughter, kept her from running away again, kept her from… Buffy had been there at all of Faith's worst moments, and helped her every time. Even when she killed her.

"Fine. But only you." Faith added, knowing when to cave.

"We should probably come to check out the deal with 'the watcher' and all…" Willow started to ramble but was cut off by a glare from Faith. "Fine, go. pack. You two need to leave for the airport in half an hour if you're going to make this flight and there are no other flights out until tomorrow." Willow said, finishing the seating purchase for the slayers.

Buffy tried to catch Faith's eye as they left the room and walked back to their adjacent rooms together, but Faith was staring at her feet, muttering "going back to Boston" over and over and shaking her head, trying to make herself believe what was happening.


	10. vamped

The flight seemed to take forever. Buffy kept trying to get Faith to talk, and Faith was just lost in her own thoughts

Finally they landed and walked off the plane into Boston.

"Did Will say where in Boston we were going? It's a big city, B" Will said, speaking for the first time since they left.

"She said to call and check in when we got here incase she was on the move, I'll call her now."

While Buffy called Willow, Faith just tried to take in her surroundings. She was back in Boston. Her running away had finally brought her full circle.

When Buffy told Faith where they were going Faith then led her fellow slayer to the appropriate subway train. They continued on the subway in silence, Buffy having gotten tired of pushing Faith to talk, and Faith just staring out the window, trying to let it sink in that she was really back in Boston.

When they caught up with Hope, they found her in the middle of a party, vamps everywhere, with punches and kicks flying everywhere.

"Hope!" Faith yelled before jumping into the battle, Buffy following close behind her. Soon the air was full of dust, and they were each down to their last vamp or two. But Faith froze, two vampires, a boy and a girl, neither looking much more than 15, still baring down on her.

"We knew you would be back, Faith" the man said.

"We've been waiting for you." The woman added, as they backed Faith against the wall.

"Faith! FIGHT!" Buffy yelled, still doing the tango of battle with her last vampire, as he landed a blow to her face while she was distracted. Buffy turned her attention back to her own fight, going back to back with Hope as they circled with their respective vampires. Faith looked around at the vampires they were fighting as well. She recognized them all.

"Sarah, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have let this happen to you! I should have protected you!" Faith whimpered, looking into the face of her former friend.

"Don't be sorry! You can come back home now, with us. You can join us again." Billy responded, bearing in on Faith who was now pressed against the wall.

"We've been waiting for you, Faith. Kakistos made us make you, and we don't mean to let him down!" Sarah said, only inches from Faith now.

They were about to bite Faith, one on each side of her neck when they both turned to dust, and suddenly Buffy was standing before Faith, a stake in each hand where the leaders of Faith's old gang had stood seconds earlier.

"Hope, are you okay?" Buffy asked, turning to the younger slayer who was currently brushing vamp dust off herself after finishing her last vampire.

"I'm fine" Hope said gruffly. "what are you doing here?"

Buffy ignored her second question, turning back to Faith once she was sure the younger slayer wasn't going anywhere in a hurry. "what was that, Faith? Why didn't you fight?" Buffy yelled at her fellow slayer.

"They… I…" Faith stammered. She knew she had to say something, as she had nearly just let two vampires bite her without fighting back, but how was she supposed to explain that Buffy had just staked Hope's father, and her own best friend from all those years ago?

"What Faith? I've been letting you sit and sulk in silence and I have no idea what is going on with you but you have to give some explanation for this!"

"I knew them, ok?" Faith said, shoving away from the wall and past Buffy, trying to put it all behind her. "kakistos" she kept muttered, unable to believe that there were still more gag gifts from Kakistos left here. He had gone for more than her watcher. He had found the people she hadn't seen for months before then.

"kakistos?" Buffy asked, hearing her muttering.

"Kakistos turned them, sent them looking for me. They've been looking for 14 years."

"Who were they Faith?" Hope asked. She had seen this vampire gang before, and only engaged because she sensed the other slayers coming closer. She didn't want them here, but as long as they were they could help her take out an old problem.

"Hope, that was Billy & Sarah. Your father, and my one time best friend"


End file.
